Thomas Stanley: His Original Lyrics Part 6

But if thou dost desire thy form to view, Look in my heart, where Love thy picture drew, 10 And then, if pleas'd with thine own shape thou be, Learn how to love thyself by[34:3] loving me.

SONG.

When I lie burning in thine eye, Or freezing in thy breast, What martyrs, in wish'd flames that die, Are half so pleas'd or blest?

When thy soft accents through mine ear 5 Into my soul do fly, What angel would not quit his sphere, To hear such harmony?

Or when the kiss thou gav'st me last My soul stole in its breath, 10 What life would sooner be embrac'd Than so desir'd a death?

When I commanded am by thee, } (Or by thine eye or hand,) } What monarch would not prouder be }[35:1] 15 To serve than to command? }

Then think not[35:2] freedom I desire, Or would my fetters leave, Since, phoenix-like, I from this fire Both life and youth receive. 20

SONG.

Fool! take up thy shaft again.

If thy store Thou profusely spend in vain, Who can furnish thee with more?

Throw not then away thy darts 5 On impenetrable hearts.

Think not thy pale flame can warm Into tears, Or dissolve the snowy charm Which her frozen bosom wears, 10 That expos'd unmelted lies To the bright suns of her eyes.

But since thou thy power hast lost, Nor canst fire Kindle in that breast, whose frost 15 Doth these flames in mine inspire; Not to thee but her I'll sue, That disdains both me and you!

DELAY.

Delay! Alas, there cannot be To Love a greater tyranny: Those cruel beauties that have slain Their votaries by their disdain, Or studied torments sharp and witty. 5 Will be recorded for their pity, And after-ages be misled To think them kind, when this is spread.

Of deaths the speediest is despair; Delays the slowest tortures are; 10 Thy cruelty at once destroys, But expectation starves my joys.

Time and Delay may bring me past The power of Love to cure, at last; And shouldst thou wish to ease my pain, 15 Thy pity might be lent in vain.

Or if thou hast decreed that I Must fall[36:1] beneath thy cruelty, O kill me soon! Thou wilt express More mercy, ev'n in showing less. 20

THE REPULSE.

Not that by this disdain I am releas'd, And, freed from thy romantic[37:1] chain, Do I myself think blest;

Not that thy flame shall burn 5 No more; for know That I shall into ashes turn Before this fire doth so.

Nor yet that unconfin'd I now may rove, 10 And with new beauties please my mind; But that thou ne'er didst love!

For since thou hast no part Felt of this flame, I only from thy tyrant heart 15 Repuls'd, not banish'd, am.

To lose what once was mine Would grieve me more Than those inconstant sweets of thine Had pleas'd my soul before. 20

Now I've not lost that[37:2] bliss I ne'er possessed; And, spite of Fate, am blest in this: That I was never blest.

SONG.

Celinda, by what potent art Or unresisted charm, Dost thou thine ear and frozen heart Against my pa.s.sion arm?

Or by what hidden influence 5 Of powers in one combin'd, Dost thou rob Love of either sense, Made deaf as well as blind?

Sure thou as friends[38:1] united hast Two distant deities, 10 And scorn within thy heart hast plac'd, And love within thine eyes;

Or those soft fetters of thy hair, (A bondage that disdains All liberty,) do guard thine ear 15 Free from all other chains.

Then my complaint how canst thou hear, Or I this pa.s.sion fly, Since thou imprison'd hast thine ear, And not confin'd thine eye? 20

THE TOMB.

When, cruel fair one, I am slain By thy disdain, And as a trophy of thy scorn To some old tomb am borne, Thy fetters must their power bequeath 5 To those of Death; Nor can thy flame immortal burn Like monumental fires within an urn.

Thus freed from thy proud empire, I shall prove There is more liberty in Death than Love. 10

And when forsaken lovers come To see my tomb, Take heed thou mix not with the crowd, And, as a victor, proud To view the spoils thy beauty made, 15 Press near my shade!

Lest thy too cruel breath, or name, Should fan my ashes back into a flame.

And thou, devour'd by this revengeful fire, }[39:1]

His sacrifice, who died as thine, expire. } 20

Or should my dust thy pity move That could not, love, Thy sighs might wake me, and thy tears Renew my life and years; Or should thy proud insulting scorn 25 Laugh at my urn, Kindly deceiv'd by thy disdain, I might be smil'd into new life again.

Then come not near: since both thy love and hate Have equal power to kill[39:2] or animate. 30

But if cold earth or marble must Conceal my dust, Whilst, hid in some dark ruins, I Dumb and forgotten lie, The pride of all thy victory 35 Will sleep with me; And they who should attest thy glory Will or forget, or not believe this story.

Then, to increase thy triumph, let me rest, (Since by thine eye slain,) buried in thy breast! 40

TO CELIA.

PLEADING WANT OF MERIT.[40:1]

Dear, urge no more the killing cause Of our divorce: Love is not fetter'd by such laws, Nor bows to any force.

Though thou deniest I should be thine, 5 Yet say not thou deserv'st not to be mine!

Oh, rather frown away my breath With thy disdain, Or flatter me with smiles to death; By joy or sorrow slain, 10 'Tis less crime to be kill'd by thee, Than I thus cause of mine[40:2] own death should be.

Thyself of beauty to divest, And me of love, Or from the worth of thine own breast 15 Thus to detract, would prove In us a blindness, and in thee At best a sacrilegious modesty.

But, Celia,[40:3] if thou wilt despise What all admire, 20 Nor rate thyself at the just price Of beauty or desire, Yet meet my flames! and thou shalt see That equal love knows no disparity.

THE KISS.[41:1]

When on thy lip my soul I breathe, Which there meets thine, Freed from their fetters by this death, Our subtle forms[41:2] combine: Thus without bonds of sense they move, 5 And like two cherubim converse by[41:3] love.

Spirits to chains of earth confin'd Discourse by sense; But ours, that are by flames refin'd, With those weak ties dispense. 10 Let such in words their minds display: We in a kiss our mutual thoughts convey.[41:4]